


Shelley's Intentions

by iseetheskyline



Series: Tumblr Prompts and other one shots [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin Friendship, lecturers can be assholes I should know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 18:18:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13036755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iseetheskyline/pseuds/iseetheskyline
Summary: Based on the Tumblr prompt: "you’re obviously hungover so I’m going to rescue you and tell the teacher why your answer wasn’t as strange as it sounded, but you’ll owe me."(Prompt found here: https://callistawolf.tumblr.com/post/100809913937/swimcoachtachibana-queerlullaby)





	Shelley's Intentions

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I wrote this in an hour and it's completely un-beta'd I just wanted to try and get back into the swing of writing before I start a chaptered fic.  
> This is also just me unashamedly using my university experience to churn out too much fic.

Sirius Black leant back in his chair as the lecturer continued to drone on about the differences between Victor and the Monster in Shelley’s Frankenstein. It was 10am on a Monday morning, far too early, Sirius would argue, to be holding a lecture about something that required as much thought as this one did. 

As the professor clicked through the powerpoint slides, Sirius felt his head start to pound as his body remembered how much he’d drank the night before. Closing his eyes, he leant forwards and rested his head on his arms upon the desk. 

For a moment, the darkness soothed his headache. But all too soon he was being forced to lift his head as somebody nudged him in the side, hissing at him to sit up. Blinking in the suddenly bright lights of the lecture theatre, he moved his gaze to the front of the room where the lecturer stood impatiently, hand rested on her hip and an eyebrow raised. 

Grinning sheepishly, Sirius sat up straighter in his seat, “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, could you repeat the question?”

…

If you asked anyone, they would tell you that Remus Lupin is the shy boy who takes too many notes in lectures and doesn’t speak up. Remus himself might even agree with that.   
10am on a Monday morning usually saw Remus sat at the front of the lecture theatre, notebook and pen on the desk, and a bottle of water placed next to it. Other students would argue against taking studious notes since the powerpoints were always uploaded online but Remus would disagree. He liked taking notes, preferring to read back over his own work when completing assignments. 

Typically, on a Monday morning, less than half of the students taking English Literature would show up for the 2 hour lecture, choosing instead to have a lie in and sleep off the hangovers from the night before. 

Today was no different. Sat right in front of the lecturer, Remus had a whole row to himself, giving him the space to spread out his pages of notes across the desk in front of him. 

An hour into the lecture and he had zoned out; still taking notes at high speed but ignoring the conversations around him as the lecturer picked on random students to give their opinions. 

…

The lecturer tutted at Sirius as she repeated her question, making gestures towards the screen where the question sat in bold. “What I asked, Mr Black, was whether you agree or disagree with the idea that Frankenstein and the Monster are, in some way, the same?

Pursing his lips, Sirius wracked his brain for something, anything, that he could respond with. “I think…” he started, “What I mean to say is that…” He paused again, struggling to form a legible argument around the pounding in his brain. 

“I disagree with the idea that Frankenstein and his Monster are the same,” he responded, wanting to take back the words as soon as he’d said them. He didn’t have a reason for why he thought that, they were just the first words that came out.

The lecturer tilted her head at him, a thoughtful expression on her face, “Go on, Mr Black, I don’t believe many people would argue that point.”

Sirius smiled at her timidly, “ I believe,” he started slowly, “that Victor and the Monster aren’t the same,” he paused again, “because of the fact that the Monster is, if you’ll excuse my language, a massive fucking asshole.”

Several quiet chuckles went up around the room at his response as the lecturer let out a sigh, “Thank you for your input, Mr Black,” she fixed him with a stern stare, “I think if you’re just going to sleep through my lectures you might be better off staying at home.” 

At her words, Sirius felt his face flush, looking down at his desk and avoiding eye contact with everyone around him.   
Clearing her throat, the lecturer gazed around the room, “Can anybody give me an argument that backs up this viewpoint?”

…

Remus looked up as Sirius began to speak, immediately noticing his bruised eyes and messy hair. He cringed as the lecturer berated him for giving a half-hearted answer, before zoning back out as she began to speak again. 

“Can nobody give me an opposing view to this question?” Remus looked up again, stealing a glance behind him at all the students who were trying hard to look engrossed in their notes, or to simply shrink down as far as they could in their chairs. 

Letting out a quiet huff, Remus half raised his hand, thankful for once that half of the student body for the course hadn’t bothered to turn up. The lecturer gestured to him in an invitation to speak. 

Sparing a quick look over to Sirius, Remus cleared his throat, “I think what Sirius was trying to say is that, while there certainly are parallels between Victor and the Monster such as them both showing signs of resentfulness, the difference in character is that Victor is very internal with his anger, while the Monster is very physical.” He paused to flick through his notes, “Victor never destroyed a cottage or murdered anybody, so while there are similarities, the physicality of how each character acts is very much different.” 

As he finished speaking, Remus looked back down at the desk as the lecturer praised his response, smiling shyly to himself.

…

An hour later, they were finally dismissed from the lecture. Students rushed out the door as they headed off to various seminars or to go back to their accommodation. Standing up slowly, Sirius took his time to pull on his leather jacket and shoulder his bag. Glancing across the room, he noticed Remus still packing away his notes into a folder. 

Crossing the theatre, he stopped in front of Remus’ desk, leaning forwards on his hands as he grinned up at him, “Nice job before, you helped me not sound like a total idiot in front of everyone.”

Glancing up at him, Remus gave him a shy smile, “It was nothing, it’s not every day that someone actually argues my point of view.” 

Sirius let out a laugh, “Regardless, I appreciate it.” He rocked back on his heels as he assessed the boy in front of him, all long limbs and knitted sweaters, “Listen, I don’t know about you but I could murder a coffee right now, let me buy you one as thanks?” Sirius paused, “Unless you have somewhere to be that is?”

Remus chuckled at that, “Yeah, alright.” He pulled his satchel onto his shoulder and he gestured towards the door, “After you.”

Turning his back on him, Sirius headed towards the door, grin fixed on his face. He’d spoken to Remus Lupin only a few times previously, but his interest was piqued, and boy did he intend to find out more.


End file.
